A Dream's Awakening
by GrasssnakeGildedserpent
Summary: When the children from the future failed to stop Grima, Naga turns to more desperate measures - summoning heroes from other worlds. As the timeline balances and re-balances itself, Alina, a student from 21st century Earth, must stay a step ahead of the game, lest the Fell Dragon Grima bring ruin to the world once again. Diverging timeline, OC's, shenanigans. Accepting reader OC's!
1. Prologue

_O Great heroes of distant worlds, heed my call_

 **Who the hell… Me?**

 _Yes, you. And many others as well. My world is on the brink of falling to a terrible darkness. I implore you, help me end this monstrosity._

 **Sure…? But I'm no hero. I'm just a gamer who has no idea what to do with my life.**

 _You have memories of my world. More importantly, memories of leading my children to victory._

 **Who are you anyway?**

 _You know of me. I am the mother of dragons, Naga._

 **Wait, Naga, the divine dragon goddess? You mean the world of Fire Emblem? Ylisse?**

 _Indeed. Worry not, I shall send you with a weapon of my blessing, and to a place convenient to meet with Chrom's party._

 **And if I die?**

 _If you die you shall be sent back to your own time and world. If you succeed, then, we can talk._

 **Well, okay then! Sounds fair enough. Oh, and one more question, Naga?**

 _What is it you seek, young one?_

…

 **Can I have a wyvern?**


	2. Unwelcome Change

A warm breeze tickled Alina awake. Below her, a bed of crisp grass on the hard stone ground stood a stark contrast to the warm bed she was so used to waking in. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she was greeted by the view of an almost-picturesque countryside — and a massive sky-blue wyvern tackling her not much unlike a dog.

"Down, Giwira," Alina said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if she'd had any sort of animal companion in her life.

Well. It seemed that dreams really did come true. It had only been half a night ago, her dream before awakening, that the divine dragon Naga had approached her with a request. That dream already felt so far away. And along with her home world. She glanced down, and a lock of green hair caught her eye. Bright, grassy green hair, like newly sprouted grass in an alpine meadow cascaded down her back, far longer than she was used to (and comfortable with). Her outfit had been changed to shades of blue, with the occasional pink accent — the cloak, tunic, belts, and gloves, all of which she handcrafted, had all received pallet swaps, as well as material upgrades. And her armor! Before the breastplate, bracers, and pauldrons were made of a flimsy foam, now they were forged of steel and leather, real armor instead of the costume replicas she made.

She turned to the wyvern waiting patiently at her feet. Lying down, it was about twice the length and half the height of a horse, from head to tail tip, and its wingspan was just as wide. Its bright ruby eyes watched her attentively as she circled around to its side, and rummaged through the saddlebag. A heal staff and a vulnerary she immediately recognized, though the third item… It was an intricate emerald recurve bow, overlaid with a lightning patterned grip, somewhat reminiscent of the fujin yumi. It fit comfortably in her hand, and the draw weight felt neither too heavy for her to draw, nor to light and weak. _Could this be what Naga mentioned about a personal weapon?_ she mused. It certainly didn't look like any legendary or common-made bow she knew.

"As for you," Alina turned, addressing the wyvern still intently staring at her. "I suppose I can call you Giwira, since you responded to that earlier." It blinked back at Alina, as if nodding in response. "Well, are you a guy or a girl wyvern?" Two blinks. "A girl then, that's what I expected. Can we go for a test flight?" Another blink, and the wyvern shuffled her wings to let Alina climb on easier. The saddle was not much unlike a horse saddle, except more adapted to fit a wyvern's considerably less cylindrical shape. At the back, there was a belt reminiscent of a seat belt, probably to serve the same purpose as it did in her home world. She cinched it tightly, and after double checking that she couldn't fall off even if Giwira decided to throw her for a loop, she picked up the reins and flicked them lightly.

Giwira shot off like a bullet on a near-vertical incline, accelerating until she passed the clouds, then flipped — and dropped like a rock. The rider and sky-blue wyvern free fell for a good half minute, before the wyvern decided it had scared its rider enough… at least for now. She banked hard, wings unfurling to catch the updraft. Looking back, she gave Alina a toothy grin, an expression completely opposite of Alina's.

"…'should've picked a pegasus…" Alina grumbled as she struggled to suppress the urge to puke her guts out. "Giwira! You know I get airsick, stop taking me on crazy rides like I'm a Skywalker!" Well, maybe Alina didn't know if Giwira really knew her as well as she thought. But being able to talk to the wyvern like that, she somehow _knew_ that this was the same fictional companion that Alina always wrote about, given life by the dragon-goddess.

After flying more or less normally for a few minutes, Alina finally felt confident enough to loosen her death grip on the wyvern. The crisp, high-altitude air swept her hair behind her as they soared, close enough to touch the clouds above them. For a moment, she felt free, powerful, unbounded by the earthly gravity. And then — oh, she had a wonderful idea to try. "Giwira, fly as steadily as you can," she commanded her mount. It gave a slight head bob in acknowledgement, and descended low, where there were no heavy gusts of wind. "Should used to shooting from the skies," she thought out loud as she drew her bow and aimed at a tree several hundred yards away. Steadying her breath to match the bobbing of her wyvern, she focused on a knot on the side of the trunk, and let the arrow fly.

It hit its mark with a satisfying thump. The girl didn't need to squint to see that the arrow, while it didn't hit the dead center of the knot, was no more than a centimeter or two away from where she'd aimed. Not a bad starting point; knowing the events to come, she would have more than enough time to hone her skills to a deadly accuracy. She raised her hand to her face to adjust her glasses, and probed her face in confusion for a few seconds — before she realized she didn't _have_ glasses. She silently whispered a thanks to the dragon-goddess for healing her eyes, and commanded her wyvern to soar higher. She gazed on for miles and miles, revelling in her crystal clear sight. From her vantage point, she noticed a band of travellers — no bigger than ants — but the girl recognized the silver and blue-haired pair instantly. And, of course, the blue armored knight that was hailing her down.

"You! Who are you, and what is your purpose for flying through Ylissean skies?" The knight shouted as soon as she descended within earshot.

"My name is Alina; I'm a travelling mercenary," she recited her mentally prepared cover story. Her heart pounded in her chest, partially because of her social anxiety, partially because she couldn't believe who she was meeting.

The knight furrowed his brow as he looked at her. "A sellsword? That's a fine _Plegian_ steed you have there. Where's the rest of your group?"

"Don't have one," Alina shrugged. "I've been trying to find one to join, but unfortunately most would rather hire me for other purposes," she put bluntly. Though the knight hardly looked convinced, the girl knew if she kept lying without preparation, she'd trip herself over her own words.

"Then perhaps you can explai—" The girl fought to keep her face neutral as a blue-haired man, clad in light armor and a tattered white cape approached and waved the knight off.

"Peace, Frederick. Wyverns may be rare and hard to tame in Ylisse, but having one doesn't make her Plegian. Perhaps you can join our group then? We could always use another person handy in a fight, especially with all those ghastly creatures last night."

Alina let out an invisible sigh of relief. "Then I shall gladly accept," she replied, bowing in genuine gratitude. _First step, join shepherds. Done._ She high-fived herself mentally.

"Milord—" The knight started, only to be cut off again.

"Oh! I suppose some proper introductions are in order. I'm Chrom, captain of the Shepherds. Frederick the Wary there is my lieutenant, and the delicate little one is my sister, Lissa. And this is Robin, Sully, and Virion." Alina nodded along as Chrom gestured to each of the group behind him, but her eyes lingered for a second on the silver-haired girl — Robin. _Grandmaster tactician, or future vessel of Grima?_ Alina wondered, though the question had no answer now.

The traveller did have a question that could be answered, however. "Chrom, those creatures that appeared last night, do they have a name? And what do you know of a swordsman that goes by the name of Marth?"

"No they don't, and they aren't common in these lands, that I know for sure," Chrom's face darkened as he replied. "As for Marth, he appeared just in time to save my sister's life, then disappeared as quickly as he appeared. You know him?"

Alina shrugged. "Not really," she lied. _No shit, he's actually a she, and your daughter, idiot._ "I know of him. And not much, either. Just that he claims to be from another world, and followed those creatures here to kill them."

"I… see," Chrom replied, clearly disappointed. "He's quite the mystery, isn't he?"

"A-hem," Frederick cleared his throat rather loudly to catch their attentions. "Milord's best choices aside, I believe we have spent quite enough time dawdling. We still have a long march ahead of us back to Ylisstol, and I'd quite like to make it back as soon as possible."

* * *

It was mid afternoon by the time the group arrived at the capital, and Alina was _starving_. In fact, she was sure that if she had to walk that distance, she would have collapsed no farther than halfway. On account for making up lost time, they had skipped lunch, promising to "be back at the castle in an hour or so". Though the sun told that it was only around two or at most, three o'clock, and Alina was used to delaying lunch later than that, she couldn't deny her stomach grumbling as they trudged through the city streets.

They came to a stop behind a huge cheering crowd. Peering above the masses, Alina noticed that they were at the palace gates, and a blonde woman in a green robe, flanked by half a dozen pegasus knights, was greeting the crowd.

"The exalt is your ruler, yes?" came Robin's voice as they pushed through the crowd. Her gaze wandered, taking in the sights and sounds of the capital, and she walked straight into the shepherd's second in her distraction.

"Yes. Her name is Lady Emmeryn." Frederick replied, mildly annoyed.

"Is it safe for her to walk among commoners like this?" Robin asked, her face a mixture of curiosity and alarm.

"The exalt is a symbol of peace — Ylisse's most prized quality," the blue knight explained. "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the fell dragon tried to destroy the world. But the first exalt joined forces with the divine dragon and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us all of the peace we fought for then."

"Exalt Emmeryn is a blessing," Alina continued. "She's the voice of peace for the people as Plegia continues to provoke a war so soon after the last one ended.

"Indeed," Chrom nodded. "We are very lucky to have her."

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa exclaimed, a bright grin on her face.

"Wait, _what_?!" Alina tried not to smile too hard at Robin's revelation. "But wouldn't that make you and Chrom…"

"Prince and princess of the realm, yes," Frederick finished, his tone becoming laced with suspicion once again. "You remember Chrom's name, and not this?"

The amnesiac reddened a bit. "You said you were shepherds!" She cried indignantly, clearly flustered. "Prince Chrom! Sire! Forgive my dreadful manners!"

"Just Chrom is fine. I've never been much for formalities." The azure-haired prince waved it off casually. "Emm is returning to the palace, would you all like to go meet her?"

"It would be an honor to," Alina accepted, bowing her head slightly to the royal siblings.

* * *

Castle Ylisse was easily the most impressive structure Alina had ever seen. To the oblivious eye, it would seem the only notable aspect was its size — its grand halls were easily the length of football fields — but the humble-looking castle hid its grandeur in the detail of the design. Elegant filigree chandeliers cast the halls in an ethereal glow, and the pillars had some sort of engraving on them, something Alina couldn't discern at first glance, yet still piqued an interest in her. However as impressive as it was, she was not here to sightsee, the girl reminded herself.

Sully and Virion had peeled off from the group earlier, heading to the barracks as they had no business with the Ylissean royals. Part of Alina wished they came along, though she knew another two people she hardly knew would hardly help calm her jittering nerves. The five of them walked in awkward silence to the Exalt's personal waiting room — apparently, she had concluded with public matters for the day. Despite their winding path, Alina marked each and every turn they took, slowly constructing a mental map of the castle. As they turned down yet another hallway, the world-traveller couldn't help but notice the balcony they passed — overlooking a garden and suspiciously similar to the one the grimleal would use to infiltrate the castle. _One where Chrom would be assassinated,_ she thought darkly, as she followed the group to Emmeryn's room.

The exalt looked like a radiant star, smiling benevolently at the shepherds. "Welcome home, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick. How fared you all?"

"Well, we shouldn't have any bandit problems for a while," Chrom put bluntly. His frown deepened. "We need to watch the borders more carefully. The brigands crossed over from Plegia."

"Forgive me, milord," Phila interjected. "My pegasus knights should have intercepted them."

"No Phila, your duty was here with the Exalt." Chrom shook his head.

"Besides, we had plenty of help!" Lissa quipped, her voice positively bouncing with excitement. "This is Robin, and Alina!" She shoved the two to the front of the crowd and waved them on with 'ta-da' hands.

"Yes. Robin fought bravely with us, and is quite a talented tactician. Alina is a mercenary, and is quite skilled with a bow. I've decided to invite them both to the Shepherds." Chrom finished the introduction.

"Well, if you've gained Chrom's trust, then you have mine as well. My warmest welcomes to the castle, Robin, Alina." Emmeryn nodded at the two.

Frederick narrowed his eyes. "Forgive me, your grace. Robin claims to have lost her memory, but that is only that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that she is a Plegian spy. Alina as well, her manner of dress is clearly foreign, and she rides a wyvern not unlike those of the Plegian wyvern brigade."

"Thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have such tireless a guardian. However if Chrom chooses to trust them, then I shall as well. Chrom, about those deathly creatures, we have had reports of sightings all across Ylisse. We were about to hold council, will you please join us?"

"That's our cue to leave!" said Lissa as she grabbed the two newcomers by the hand, and pulled them down the hall. "C'mon, there's a place I wanna show you!"

* * *

 **A/N:** eyy finally finished my first-ever fanfic chapter! This is the story of Alina Xiane, the character I did art for over a year ago - art links on my profile! She's your average 21st century earth teenager that got magically sucked into the world of Fire Emblem Awakening. Being a fangirl and an avid FE player she knows a LOT of the history and future of world than she probably should for her own good. Fangirl awkwardness/screaming incoming. They story will diverge somewhere along the line, though I haven't fully planned it out yet. Lastly I'm writing this purely for fun and to practice my english writing skills, so expect poorly constructed OCs, out of character canon characters, bad storytelling, deus ex shenanigans, and probably some what-the-fuckery. I'll also be taking a handful of reader OCs, check my profile for more details!


	3. Shepherds

Alina stumbled down the hall after the princess. The petite girl was surprisingly fast, and despite Alina considering herself quite a fast runner, she could barely catch up to Lissa as she barreled down the hall grinning. Robin jogged along beside her, either genuinely lacking stamina like her, or not wanting to leave her fellow new recruit behind. Either way, the girl was immensely thankful for the silver-haired tactician's presence as Lissa disappeared down the staircase.

"Err, which way did she go?" Alina asked as they came to the base of the stairs. The hall was empty, and two closed sets of doors faced each end.

Robin looked left, then right, then left again. Her face was scrunched up in a look of concentrated pondering, and after a moment, decided, "This way." She gestured to the heavy oak door to their right, further down the hall than the one on the left. "This door goes out to the garden, because upstairs there's a balcony right above. Judging by how ornate the other door is, I'm willing to bet that it leads to a throne room or ballroom or something, which is hardly interesting enough to warrant her excitement. As for how she crossed that distance in less time than it took us to go down a flight of stairs, I have no idea." The two shared a bewildered look, and turned to proceed through the right door.

Robin was indeed correct in all her predictions. The duo exited to the garden, where they found Lissa waving to them from the threshold of another building. "Cmon, you slowpokes!" she screeched, before disappearing inside once again.

"Welcome to the Shepherd's garrison! Go on, make yourself at home!" Lissa announced as Alina and Robin made their way to the barracks. "Hey, this is Maribelle, my best friend!" Lissa introduced her friend, a finely dressed lady with blonde ringlets. The stark opposite of the wild cleric, Maribelle was the definition of the high-class, dainty socialite in both actions and appearance.

"So, who's the strangers?" A buff, scantily dressed man swaggered up to them. He had blond, spiked hair, and walked with a carefree air.

"No one's stranger than you Vaike… but this is Robin and Alina! They're new recruits to the Shepherds!" Lissa quipped, smirking at the jab she made. "You should see all the tricks Robin's got up her sleeve!"

"Oh yeah?" Vaike grinned slyly. "Can she do this?" Vaike took a deep breath, and let out a massive burp.

Alina and Maribelle cringed simultaneously. "Ugh, Vaike!" Maribelle cried indignantly. "Must you baseborn oafs pollute the air with your buffoonery? Sheesh!" She marched off, more than eager to take her leave of the company.

"Beg pardon," A shy brunette approached, stumbling as she neared them. "When might we see the captain?"

Lissa giggled, "Aww, Sumia, so sweet of you to worry about Chrom."

"Worry? Of course I'd worry, he's our captain and prince — Ah captain! You've returned!" Sumia answered quickly, hiding a blush.

Chrom marched in the room, Frederick a step behind. "Alright, listen up everyone! Tomorrow morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna Ferox?" came Robin's puzzled voice from across the gathered crowd.

Alina scanned the crowd, hoping to locate her fellow new recruit, but in the throng of familiar profiles, one caught her eye. _Wait. How the f…_ Alina's thoughts trailed off as Chrom resumed explaining, but in her distracted state was neither able to catch the full speech, nor fully formulate a coherent thought.

"I'll go!" Lissa's chipper voice rang across the discussion.

"I'd like to come along as well," Alina volunteered, amidst all the other shepherds voicing their volunteer. A blue haired girl stood at the back of the group, looking not quite out of place, but not like she belonged either. The flared sleeved tunic and leggings rang a bell, too — the distinctive style belonged to only one person Alina knew.

"Alright, now that that's settled, room accomodations for our new members. Lissa, can you show Robin and Alina to an empty room?"

"If I may, milord," Frederick spoke up, "I believe it would be best if our newcomers were assigned with the other trainees so that they may be accustomed to their time with us more quickly."

Whether Frederick was genuinely concerned, or splitting them up out of wariness, Alina didn't know. _Probably both, actually,_ she mused.

"Alright then… How about Alina with Sumia, and V and Robin?"

"Sure thing!" quipped the golden-haired princess.

 _V… that's not the name of one of the shepherds from the game,_ thought Alina. _Could it be the blue haired girl?_ Regardless, Alina couldn't ask right now, as Lissa showed her to her room. It didn't look too much different than a college dorm. In fact, it was way bigger than she'd thought — easily twice the size of a large triple room at her school. An unused bed was shoved in the corner of the room, along with a desk and a trunk. Books were scattered across the room, and a few jars of wilted and fresh flowers sat on the windowsill. Sumia herself, the lancer trainee and soon-to-be pegasus knight was sprawled on her own bed, nose buried in a book.

"Hey, Sumia, right?" Alina played dumb for a bit, despite knowing the game better than the back of her hand. "I guess I'm your new roommate?"

"Oh!" Sumia almost jumped, dropping her book off the bed, and almost falling over herself to get it. "Oh I'm sorry, the room's such a mess — OOF!" The brunette rose to gather the scattered books, and immediately tripped over one of the fallen books. "Ugh… Sorry I'm so useless," she grumbled, nursing a bruise.

"No worries!" Alina replied with fake cheer as she finished stacking the books by her roommate's bed. "Say, do you know where I might grab a bite? I'm starving," she added.

"Ooh yeah, the kitchen's down that way!" Sumia pointed towards the wall, possibly a vague indication to 'down the hall and to your right'. "Stahl usually raids the kitchen between mealtimes, but there should be more than just stale bread!"

Though Sumia's directions were anything but clear (or even close to correct), Alina somehow managed to find her way to the kitchen, where a man with olive green hair was downing what looked like a quiche. Suddenly, Alina had the feeling that Sumia was very, very wrong — again. Glancing around the kitchen, the sights confirmed her suspicions. The fruit bowl only had a few grapes at the bottom, the bread basket had half a baguette, and well, anything that resembled food that could be eaten sans-cooking was either gone, or mostly gone enough to not be enough for a meal. "Yo, any chance you'll share that?" the girl greeted Stahl, the company's resident green cavalier to Sully's red.

Stahl looked up mid-chew. He gulped, swallowing his huge bite in one, and replied, "Nope, this one's all mine! I'm starving!" He shoveled in another several bites of quiche, "I take it that you're one of the new recruits?" the green knight garbled with his mouth full.

The archer only raised an eyebrow at the knight, and after a moment of awkward silence, she replied, "Er, yeah. Name's Alina. I ride a wyvern. So, Frederick decided that it was a good idea to march without a lunch break. There any food left, or am I stuck hungry 'til dinner?" She rolled her eyes, trying to strike a casual conversation.

Talk about food instantly made the cavalier open up more. "Ugh, I _hate_ it when Frederick does that! Having three meals a day is important to maintaining a strong, healthy body!" Stahl proclaimed with the gusto of an anime character. "Say, I think I saw some eggs in the icebox, maybe you could cook something?"

Alina groaned internally. She was certainly not in the mood to cook, but neither was she in the mood to avoid her hunger much longer, especially since dinner was likely not for a few hours. Relenting to her stomach's will, she located a pan and the necessary ingredients for an omelette. It then struck her how … mismatched the kitchen looked. It had running tap water, and an ice box, but had an ancient-looking wood stove. Even the furniture looked like a mishmash of everything from rustic to modern. Brushing off her thoughts from her observant artist's eye, she busied herself frying a trio of eggs.

She'd have to talk with V later. Even with the blue hair, Alina was _almost_ sure of who the girl was, but she'd only seen her profile — and loathe she was to admit, she had misidentified profiles more than plenty of times. Regardless if it was someone she knew or not, she was sure that the newcomer was one of the 'heroes' Naga summoned from her world, ergo, someone who played Fire Emblem Awakening.

She stuffed the eggs in a chunk of the remaining baguette, making something akin to a french-style (Rosanne-style?) sandwich. Munching on it, she headed off to find the other 'hero' shepherd. V wasn't difficult to find. As Alina wandered down the hall she roomed in, a very familiar cackle drifted from a few doors down. It was soon joined by two more … ladylike laughs, who Alina easily identified as Robin and Lissa. She peeked in the slightly ajar door — the group was facing away, or at least the door was away from direct line of sight. _Good enough._ Alina inched the door open, careful to not let it creak, and leaned on the wall behind them, a casual smug smirk plastered across her face. "Sup, _V,_ " she drawled, her tone clearly implying that she knew more than she let on.

V whipped around, half shocked, half terrified. "Holy crap _Al_ —"

"Alina." the archer smoothly provided before her friend could spill her real name. "It's Alina now. So, how have you been?"

"Not okay." Of course. She always answered that. "I've been here three weeks and nothing's happened besides Sumia tripping and Vaike meme-ing. I thought — well, you know what I thought." She glanced to the two other girls in the room.

"Wait you two _know_ each other?!" Lissa interjected, incredulous.

"Yep," Alina shrugged. "We're childhood friends. Say, do you mind leaving us alone so we can… catch up I guess? Maybe give Robin a tour?" When the two girls left, Alina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and dropped her facade. "Okay. Now we can really talk. So, Naga summoned you and all?"

"Yeah. When she said she'd send us to convenient places and times to join up with the shepherds, I didn't think she meant _this_ random. Hell I thought she dropped me off after the whole Plegia thing because of how 'peaceful' it was. Chrom goes on patrols for several days once or twice a week, and for the most part nothing much has happened these past three weeks except a few bandit raids and the usual shepherd antics. No risen yet."

"Spoke too soon. " Alina remarked. "Risen just happened last night. Anyway, class? Stats? Skills?" She squatted down, grinning like a geeky fangirl, next to her old friend's sprawled form on the floor.

V shrugged, far less enthusiastic than her friend. "I dunno. I guess I'd be an archer? I mean I do know how to shoot, but when I said I wanted a gun, I didn't expect Naga to _actually_ give me a _gun._ "

"A _what?_ " It was Alina's turn to look at her friend dumbfounded. "No way. That's not even a weapon type here."

Smirking, V drew her weapon out of a pouch at her side. It was a simple silver thing, carved up with runes, streamlined and sized perfectly to fit in her palm. _It looks completely different from Breidablik, but that's literally the only other gun in the series,_ Alina mused. _Not exactly a precedent at all. In fact I guess it looks kinda like an evoker?_ But where a standard gun might have had a barrel, there was only solid metal, carved with a magic circle. _How does it shoot? And_ what _does it shoot?_

"It shoots fire magic," V answered Alina's thoughts. "Cool, huh? Infinite ammo and nearly no reload time either, or at least I haven't been able to exhaust its ammo yet."

"Super cool. Except isn't it basically a fancified infinite-use tome? Heck, I have a _longbow._ A basic, vanilla, longbow. Well, okay it's fancier than a longbow, but it basically acts like one," Alina shot back.

"A bow? I thought you'd be a sword user. I mean you cosplay sword users all the time, and plus you know all those fancy flips and moves!"

"Earth to V, just a reminder we're actually _fighting_ ," Alina sighed in mock exasperation. "Reminder that we aren't in a game, and choreographed sword fights are not reality… Anyway I did try out a longsword class a while back, and guess what, I got my ass thoroughly kicked. Hard. The spar lasted like thirty seconds. Probably less. And the one weapon that I really know how to use is not even a thing here. Which leaves me with bows, and bless the fact that we used to do archery together when we were kids because my aim is actually half decent."

"Aim huh," V mused, "I feel like our physical abilities have been improved somewhat from our old counterparts. Like I've never shot a real gun before, yet I have better aim now on the fly than sniping in a shooter game. And I'm faster and I have more stamina than before."

"Oh?" Alina replied, intrigued. "You're right, my eyesight has improved — actually been healed, I guess, I don't need glasses anymore. But other than that I don't feel much stronger or faster, or at least I don't really know since I've been riding a wyvern all this time…" she trailed off, her thoughts wandering to tactics already. _So, we're both ranged units, and she's more offensive and I'm more support. V probably has much better speed than me but worse defenses, though her HP might not be squishy as most ranged units — in that case our movement types are better optimized if we switch, thus giving her more offensive options and letting her get away from danger faster, while allowing me to stay closer to the people who might need my help… Either way it's good that we won't be seeing much one-on-one combat since we're both as inexperienced as it is. Aaaggh, I wish_ I _roomed with Robin instead!_

With some sounds of mental frustration, the world-traveller picked herself up. "Well, I should go. Tell Robin I said hi, and that I'd like to talk strategy with her sometime, will you?" Her friend answered in the affirmative. _Well. Time to train, hit the books, or sleep? Ehh… Sleep. Definitely sleep._

* * *

Morning was a blur of activity that passed by too quickly for a non-morning person such as Alina. Especially one running on far too few hours of sleep. She'd napped a bit, yes, but after dinner she'd been in a state of restlessness. There was so much to do, so much to plan that she had no idea how to make heads or tails of it, let alone where to even start. Eventually, after a few hours of lying awake in bed, Sumia softly snoring across the room, she'd finally given in to her insomnia and written a full recount of the entire game's events, including a timeline and important dates to remember by moonlight, finally passing out when the moon had set and the sky was lightening to dawn.

Everyone was running last minute preparations, Sumia following along, being a klutz, Stahl complaining about breakfast, Vaike losing his axe… Wait. Vaike losing his axe meant there was going to be a battle soon. Taking a moment to survey the field before them, indeed, they were on the well travelled Northroad. And indeed, there were risen lumbering straight at them — gods, they were downwind, Alina gagged, _and the game definitely didn't tell you how abhorrent it smells!_ Nevertheless, she unstrapped her bow and tucked her staff in her belt. She'd need those soon.

"Alina!"

"Yes! Here! Present!" the archer snapped to attention after she realized that it was not the first time Robin called her name.

Robin smiled back, looking slightly exasperated but still forgiving. "You're our only aerial unit right now, can you scout? Stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Alina answered with a nod, and nudged her wyvern up to the skies again. It looked much like how she expected it — several scattered melee units holding melee weapons hidden in the forests, a gravelly hill to the southwest, and the same four forts around the bridge as she'd remembered. A tough-looking with a hand axe in the north. Miriel, down south, rushing up the road with an axe in hand. Then she noticed — the battle had started. The nearby risen were already moving in to engage.

"Everyone MOVE!" she shouted, leading Giwira in for a nosedive. "Incoming, two sword fighters - one from the east, one north! Our priority should be getting everyone up that hill!"

"Just what I was thinking!" Robin added. "Chrom, Lissa, Vaike, get to high ground! Virion, you and I will hit them with ranged attacks! Stahl, Sully, bring up the rear! Frederick! You have weapon advantage against the sword fighters, so get their attention when you can! Alina, what else can you report?"

"One sec." She turned and rapid fired two arrows at the axe fighter currently charging at them from the hill, and winced as she didn't hit vitals. _Oh yeah, they're dead anyway. These things eat the hits and keep going._ "One relatively scattered wave of melee fighters in the forests, and a second less scattered wave up north past the bridge. There's four forts near the bridge, we should take the ones near us quickly. The wave on the other side seems more organized and ready to trap up at the bridge bottleneck — oh and also there seems to be an incredibly tough one wielding a hand axe in the far north, also somewhat bottlenecked by two hills. Miriel's on her way, should be here in a little while, so if there's nothing I really need to do, I think I should go meet her halfway and fly her here. Gi's faster than walking."

"Yeah, sounds good." Robin nodded, and ran to join her allies in the fray. Alina raised her bow and nocked another arrow. _Let's see you get up without your head,_ she challenged, and let fly a shot cleanly through the incoming fighter's neck.

* * *

As far as Alina could tell, the battle was going smoothly. She had found and delivered Miriel to the rest of the Shepherds, who found and delivered Vaike's axe to him. Then, the two of them had used their height advantage to rain down death from above until only a small handful of risen remained, camping out a defensive formation on the other side of the river. As it turned out, Risen definitely appreciated being skewered by a flaming arrow much less than being skewered, then toasted. And well, Alina's hand didn't end up appreciating holding a magically ignited arrow either, but a few burns were definitely worth some extra kills. Plus, Lissa could easily heal it after the battle. Or, at least she hoped.

"Robin, orders?" Alina wheeled Giwira around as she dropped down next to the silver haired tactician. "They aren't reacting to me provoking them, and I don't want to risk taking shots when they have a hand axe to throw right back at me." Was she being too timid? Probably. Was she willing to take the risk? Definitely not. Even though Alina was pretty sure she could take a hit from hand axe boss, she didn't feel like testing her pain tolerance just yet. Her initial orders were to provoke the pack enough to have it break its defensive formation, then bait them down to the bridge, where the bottleneck would be more than enough to help them pick the risen off one by one. Obviously, Alina knew from game experience that it wasn't going to work anyway, but it was worth a try.

"Okay then, baiting is out of the question." Robin noted. "In that case, Chrom and I, plus Frederick and Alina, will rush the two on the left. Sully, Stahl, Vaike, Virion, and Miriel, will take the two on the right. Ranged units will take the forts and snipe, and Lissa will stay where she is until it's safe to cross.

The Shepherds answered with a collective nod of agreement and sprang off to fulfill their roles. Their advantage of numbers was seemingly unnecessary, as the risen fell quickly without much effort. Without much else to do, Alina landed her wyvern what she thought was a safe distance away from the risen chief, waiting for the turn to pass so the rest of her allies could regroup and take down the boss.

Or so she thought. A moment's lapse in attention made her realize that she was most certainly _not_ far enough away. She barely registered Robin, shouting her a warning, as she realized the copse of trees she picked to take cover in was effectively trapping her from taking off, and that the risen rushing her was now effectively too close to let her take her time aiming.

She did what any person inexperienced in the field of combat would do: panic. Flail. She dropped her bow; the weapon was useless at close range. Out of options, she reached for the the staff belted at her back. _It's not a bo staff, but it can work as one, right?_

She was mostly right. She swung the staff up, and with a surprising heave of strength, managed to loosen the risen's grip on the axe. Taking advantage of its momentary pause, she dislodged her staff and smacked the undead twice in quick succession, breaking its neck with a sickening crack.

It fell, but Alina was certain it was not down for good. She wasted no time in scooping up her fallen bow, remounting her wyvern, and taking off to the safety of the skies. Just in time for the risen chief to get up. And chuck his axe at her.

Alina was prepared this time. Giwira banked hard, the axe soaring clear. Before the axe could return to its owner, Alina had loosed three arrows, knocking it from the skies, and pinning it on the ground several meters away. Leaving the beast defenseless from the swords of Chrom and Robin.

No sooner had she landed did the adrenaline of the encounter wear off, leaving Alina shaking and weak-kneed. She was sure that if she dismounted, she'd end up in a collapsed heap in the dirt. "Thanks for the save," she breathed, willing her limbs to stop shaking. Gods, if she was that shaken after _one_ encounter, what kind of 'mercenary' did that make her? A shitty one, that's what.

"No kidding," Chrom replied. "I've never seen someone wield a staff like that. How— Where did you learn to use such a healing tool as a weapon?"

"I- Back home, our staves are different. They don't have this on the end." She tapped the blue orb, it pulsing with magic where she touched it. "They're made of dense, heavy wood, and are as much as a weapon as any sword or lance. I guess I could say I'm well trained in them," Alina replied, shrugging. "I only bought this for self defense, not because I'm a proficient healer. Plus, I'm not sure if the staff itself enjoys it. This thing seems rather… delicate." She flicked the orb, earning a small glow in return.

Robin nodded. "True, but it could be useful if our healers learned some self-defense techniques. You should teach them when we get back."

"Me, teach? I'm—"

"Chrom, come look!" Sumia's cry came from down the road. Indeed, it was the injured pegasus that would soon become Sumia's pegasus. The equine reared as Chrom approached, its wings beating up a gust of wind.

"Gods, Sumia, that beast is crazed!" Chrom shouted in reply as he raised his arms to shield himself.

Sumia cast a look of disappointment to her commanding officer. "No she isn't," she snapped back with a slight pout. "She's injured, and pegasi don't take to men well." Turning to the pegasus, she stroked her gently until the pegasus calmed itself. "Shh, easy now. It's okay, I won't hurt you, girl. Chrom, if I may, I'd like to dress her wounds and catch up. Take the others and go on ahead."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Chrom asked, concern clearly showing in his voice. "We can make time to wait for you," he offered.

Sumia shook her head, but when the prince still looked reluctant to go, Alina interrupted, "Go, Chrom. I'll stay back and look after her— neither of us is defenseless, and plus, I've got to look out for my future wingmate, right?" She added with a grin. "We'll be fine." _Right?_ At least the game dictated that nothing bad happened to Sumia in the half day it took the others to get to the Longfort. She could only hope that her presence wasn't enough to upheave the events that she knew of — so far.

* * *

A/N: Alina: Hello nanowrimo, are you gonna be a thing this year?  
Internet: DO IT.  
Alina: Do I really want to tor-  
Robin: Do it.  
Alina: -ture myself with that?  
Chrom and co: You can do it Alina, we believe in you!  
Alina: ... Fine. Yolo right? Is that still a thing? Guys? this artist lives under a literal rock of pop culture void

Anyway are we going to see V in action next chapter? Maybe? Or maybe she'll make like a certain absent armored knight and — wait where did they both go? Also yes, nanowrimo is going to be a thing with this fanfic: I'm targeting either three updates OR 10k words. 623/10000 as of this update (that's been added in the month of November).


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